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Saturday, 27 December 2014

The Meating Room

Most of the restaurants I get to review are in London so
I really appreciate the chance to review a local establishment.

The Meating Room in St Albans (22 Catherine Street) is
about 7 months old and a great gem to find.The owner, Al, knew nothing about restaurants or in fact beef when he
decided to change career and open a burger restaurant.Al did know however that he wanted the best
beef in his burgers and the freshest ingredients as well as the freshest,
locally made buns and he made it his business to source the best of all of the
ingredients.

Al decided, after tasting and sampling loads of beef,
that the best beef for his burgers would come from The West Country and be from
sustainable farms with good animal practices.The buns are made daily by a local St Albans baker to Al’s specific
recipe.

The result of taking all this care is a simple, lovely
menu.Keep it simple and make it
fantastic!

Mr R and I went in one Saturday afternoon and it started
to fill up quite nicely whilst we were there but apparently if you want to dine
there on a Friday or Saturday evening you need to book.The reputation for clean food (no additives
or fillers, fresh and sustainable) has gotten around St Albans in record time.

We started with a milk shake. Mr R had the chocolate and
I had Tahitian Vanilla.They were thick
and creamy and very filling indeed. You can BYOB (bring you own booze) if you
want alcohol.

We shared a starter of grilled halloumi cheese with
grilled red peppers.

When the main courses came we were really impressed.We were asked how we wanted our burgers
cooked and they came exactly as we had ordered.

I had the house ‘Meating Room’ burger cooked medium rare
which came, as all burgers do, with a portion of rosemary sprinkled chips. The
Meating Room burger has gem lettuce, grilled beef tomato, red onion, apple
smoked cheddar, grilled turkey bacon and BBQ chilli sauce, and boy was it
tasty!

Those milkshakes look amazing! And the halloumi. I actually don't eat meat anymore, but I am really in awe of Al just quitting his job to start a business in something he had no experience in. Glad its turned out well for him!